Jerry,
Thanks for the information. So I think it's clear the bike
was meant for American road races of that era, which were
typically on flat roads, perhaps even with cinder of hard dirt
surfaces. In fact, when I think of American road races of that
era, I almost view them as "track racing on the open road".
Wht I do wonder about is this: How well do wooden rims
tolerate really rough surfaces? E.g. would a bike set up for
Paris-Roubaix in that era use the same wooden rims that were
used in other events?
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia
> My copy of a '39 Schwinn catalog has "New World Lightweight
> Racer" model W3R
> that is very similar to the e-bay bike. Description
> includes; Finest
> American seamless tubing, one piece wood racing rims, popular
> oval shaped 5
> pin type 3 piece crank and Lawson or Progressive drop bars.
> It also has an
> option of a one piece 6 1/2" fluted straight crank. Stem
> appears different
> than e-bay bike and I can't tell which way the rear dropouts
> are facing but
> it appears to be sold as a "racing" bike. Illustrations on
> the page are of
> the bike being ridden on the road not the track but in a race
> enviroment..
>
> Jerry Corcoran
> Canby, OR